The Ghana Chamber of Mines has dismissed claims by the Institute of Economic Affairs that Ghana’s repeated engagements with the International Monetary Fund are linked to the ownership structure of the country’s mining sector.
The Chamber insists there is no credible empirical basis for such assertions, arguing that the mining industry has instead remained a stabilising force for Ghana’s economy through export earnings, tax contributions and foreign exchange inflows.
The response follows calls by the IEA for government not to approve the proposed lease extension for Gold Fields’s Tarkwa mine, amid concerns that Ghana is not deriving sufficient value from its natural resources while foreign mining firms continue to dominate the sector.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Ing. Ken Ashigbey, argued that the mining sector has consistently supported Ghana’s economy, particularly during periods of fiscal and external sector pressures.
“There is no credible empirical basis for attributing Ghana’s repeated engagements with the International Monetary Fund to the operations or ownership structure of the mining sector. On the contrary, the mining industry has consistently served as a stabilising pillar of the economy, providing major sources of foreign exchange earnings, fiscal revenues, and external sector resilience. Indeed, the sector has historically served as a cornerstone of Ghana’s economic programmes presented to the IMF, with mineral export revenues providing critical support to the country’s external account position during successive Fund-supported programmes,” he said.
According to him, mineral exports have historically strengthened Ghana’s external account position and supported successive IMF-backed economic programmes.
Ing. Ashigbey disclosed that the mining sector contributed about GH₵19 billion in taxes to the Ghana Revenue Authority in 2025, representing nearly 23 percent of direct domestic tax collections.
He noted that a significant share of these revenues came from large-scale mining firms, despite producing less than half of Ghana’s total gold output.
He argued that the country’s larger fiscal challenge lies within the small-scale mining sector, which reportedly produced more than 3 million ounces of gold in 2025 accounting for more than half of national output but contributed less than GH₵0.5 million in taxes.
According to the Chamber, the disparity represents one of the most significant revenue leakages within the Ghanaian economy and highlights the urgent need for stronger regulation and formalisation of small-scale mining operations.
Ing. Ashigbey therefore urged government to prioritise the systematic taxation and formalisation of the small-scale mining sector as part of broader fiscal reforms aimed at improving domestic revenue mobilisation.
He also challenged the IEA to focus more attention on addressing revenue gaps within small-scale mining instead of attributing Ghana’s macroeconomic difficulties to foreign participation in the large-scale mining industry.
“This structural gap constitutes one of the most significant fiscal inefficiencies in the Ghanaian economy and represents a far more tractable and impactful revenue reform opportunity. The Chamber urges Government to prioritise the formalisation and systematic taxation of small-scale mining operations as an immediate fiscal policy imperative and invites the IEA to direct a commensurate degree of its advocacy toward this demonstrably material revenue challenge,” he remarked.
